Sunday, January 11, 2015

Escaping the European winter, I am off to the Philippines to see a few woodpeckers... like these Spot-throated Flamebacks Dinopium everetti, endemic to the island of Palawan. Many thanks to Rommel Cruz, who I will meet in a few days, for this great image. I hope he has them lined up like this for me!

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Yesterday we went out into the Hungarian countryside and put up a few nest-boxes for owls: 2 for Scops Owl, 1 for Long-eared owl and 1 for Barn owl. It was not as hard as when we put up the big boxes for Ural Owls recently, but it was cold, especially on the hands!

Bio

Has been interested in birds, and all wildlife, for as long as he can remember. A very experienced European birding & wildlife guide he founded Probirder (www.probirder.com) a guiding service for birders visiting C & E Europe over 20 years ago. His knowledge of the birding sites of the region is second to none, having visited every country from the Baltic in the north to the Black Sea in the south. He is also a widely published author (books listed above). His main ornithological interest focuses on the Picidae (woodpeckers). He is author of the acclaimed handbook Woodpeckers of Europe and also The Black Woodpecker - A monograph on Dryocopus martius. He also maintains blogs on the European species and all world woodpeckers. Gerard has traveled to 5 continents in search of picids and his book WOODPECKERS OF THE WORLD - The Complete Guide, was published in June 2014.